Targa TS30AS

Once upon a time we got our hands on some Targa TS30AS notebooks. Now I'm trying to install Linux (preferable Debian GNU/Linux) and maybe some other UNIX's ;) on them.
This little page is especially made for linux-on-laptops.com by Kenneth E. Harker and for my own interests in the subject itself ;). I'm trying to give a good overview on how to install Linux (or maybe something else related) on this notebook. If you're totally new to Linux you need to check some other resources like The Linux Documentation Project first. See the Other Resources section for further documentation.
This guide is not for Linux newbies!

I am very sorry for my poor English! If you find some mistakes of any kind concerning this document or have something to add please feel free to mail me at:
<matsch at binaervarianz dot de>.

Specification Overview

CPU

Intel 468DX/2-66 (C), 33.28 bogomips

System Memory

4 MB on board + 4 MB memory module

BIOS

SystemSoft BIOS for 80486/82C268 Version 1.00 (2208-05)

Bus-System

ISA-Bus and/or VLBus (not really sure yet, audio chip only available as ISA and graphics chip as both but startx says something about VLBus)

I have chosen to install Debian GNU/Linux 2.2r6 (codename 'potato') with a self-compiled 2.2.21 kernel on my notebook. If your PCMCIA network card is supported by the kernel it is enough to get the three boot floppies from the Debian ftp and boot your system with the rescue disk. The rest should be self-explanatory. The base system and everything else you need might then be installed over the net.
If your network card isn't supported or you can't install the base system over the Internet try to download the whole base system and install it from the floppies.
If you can't wait to get your GNU/Linux running use a 2,5" to 3,5" hard disk adapter and install it from your desktop PC. You can now also use the advantages of a normal PC like faster hardware in general, but also a CD-ROM and an easily configured network card or Internet access. As well you can now compile your own kernel if you wish to in much less time in most cases.
The details for the installation of Linux according to the hardware in the notebook will be given in the appropriate sections.

See the data sheet for more detailed information on the graphics chip itself.

The X-Window System

As you can see in the config file for my Xserver I specified the appropriate graphics chip, the German keyboard layout and set the mouse device for the trackball towards /dev/ttyS0 (it seems to be serial).

External Monitor

An external monitor is actually very easy to set up. Just plug the monitor cable in the VGA-port and switch the different modes with Fn + F12. One can either activate only the notebook display, only the external monitor or both at the same time. It has nothing to do with the installed operating system itself.

Audio

From several Google-Searches I did I found out the ES488 might be 100% SoundBlaster compatible. So I compiled the sb module and tried to install it with the following parameters: dma=1 irq=5 io=0x220. It installs well. First time I tried this I got some sound coming out of the speaker. Then I rebooted and it was gone, no sound no more. I tried to re-insmod the module with the same parameters and even recompiled the kernel and the modules. But I never got it working again yet.
If you hava any idea or hint on how to get sound working with the ESS ES488 please get in contact with me.

PCMCIA

If your PCMCIA card is supported by the kernel you just need to compile the appropriate drivers as a module and they should be loaded automatically when the card is insert.
If you have a PCMCIA card which is not supported by the standard installation (i.e. a Wireless LAN card) you should use pcmcia-cs. Just download the newest sources from http://pcmcia-cs.sourceforge.net/ and unpack them. Then a make config && make all && make install hopefully should do everything for you (you do not need to include support for 32bit cards (CardBus) for they do not work in the Targa).

Networking

There's no network card on board, so I use a Xircom CE3B-100 PCMCIA card. It is fully supported by Debian GNU/Linux and the modules are loaded automatically. The networking options for PCMCIA cards are not configured at /etc/network/. You therefor have to edit the file /etc/pcmcia/network.opts.
If you want to use a Wireless LAN card you have to compile the support into the kernel, else the pcmcia-cs package won't compile the appropriate modules. As well you need to install the wireless tools, they are available as a .deb-file. The configuration for WLAN is done in /etc/pcmcia/wireless.opts.

The xirc2px_cs module is for my PCMCIA network card and the sb and uart401 modules belong to the audio configuration.

The kernel should be as slim as possible due to the limited system resources. You should compile features as modules where it is possible and sensible. On the Targa, there is no need for any PCI features nor for any CD-ROM support because it has nothing of those two. I added Wireless LAN support so that the pcmcia-cs package compiles the modules for WLAN and I can use it. As well I enabled the frame buffer device support so I can try to figure out how I will get it to work when if have some time. I don't even know yet if it's possible on this notebook.

Other Chips On The Mainboard

There are numerous other 'big' chips on the mainboard I couldn't really figure out what they are/do:

PTI82C206F-CV9428-CS

iKV80C51(or I)SCC41(or I)71(or I)4 94

PICO|POWERPT86C268-ATHE EVERGREEN 2PICOPOWER

WINBONDW83767F405NC13313800

Other Resources

www.linux-on-laptops.com - Very important database by Kenneth E. Harker about the different notebook models and how to install Linux on them.

If you now think Debian GNU/Linux (or something else maybe?) would suit your notebook very well but don't have the time or skill to install it just ask us. We may install and configure it for you so you can use a nice Linux notebook for whatever you need it for. Our advantage out of all this is that we learn more about different notebooks and how to install Linux on them and do a page about it like this one :-). Get in contact with us if you wish and we will talk about further steps.

Disclaimer

This document has nothing to do with Targa, they don't even know it exists. There is no guarantee that the information on this page is accurate, please don't hold me responsible if your experience is different from the information here.

Credits

ulf - thanks for helping me out/providing me with several parts of the document and of course the notebook itself ;)

Werner Heuser from tuxmobil.org (formerly mobilix.org) - thanks for introducing me to the subject and for your web page